00:03We're talking about billions of people who lack safety managed drinking water, but also we're talking about nearly 3.4
00:10billion people who lack sanitation or lives under poor sanitation conditions.
00:19Water covers most of our planet, yet less than 1% of it is actually fresh water that we can
00:24use.
00:24Around half of the world's population faces severe water shortages for at least part of the year, and that pressure
00:31grows with every degree of warming and every expanding city.
00:34In the UAE, where rain is rare and there are no permanent rivers, most of the drinking water comes from
00:39the sea.
00:40In this episode of Earth Now, we ask why water scarcity matters, and what can be done about it.
00:46Water underpins food, energy and health.
00:49In December, the UAE and Senegal co-hosts a UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, where heads of state will
00:55be pressed to turn decades of pledges into projects that are financed and delivered.
01:00The UAE and Abu Dhabi is the city where decision makers, intellectuals, business community meet and discuss important topics, and
01:10water is not an exception.
01:13Growing populations, expanding cities and a warming climate are putting more pressure on a finite resource.
01:19With no permanent rivers, the UAE has engineered its own water security for thousands of years.
01:26Our ancestors invented the fallage over 3,000 years ago, or engineered the fallage if you want, as a method
01:33for prosperity,
01:35where people can have access to water but also irrigate from it and trade.
01:40Ancient flowered channels have given way to vast desalination plants, and now artificial intelligence.
01:46It is experience the UAE wants to share, inviting the world to bring its own ideas to the table.
01:52We want you to come with ideas, we want you to come with optimism, but also with the merit to
01:57partner.
01:58Because, as I mentioned earlier, this is a global challenge that should be solved by everyone.
02:04And we hope to see you all in Abu Dhabi.
02:06Few understand the value of a single drop better than Dr. Soltan Al-Nayadi.
02:10The Emirati astronaut spent six months on the International Space Station, where water is recycled again and again.
02:17Living in space is an eye-opener. Water is clean.
02:21So we use water to create our own oxygen.
02:23We use water for hygiene.
02:25And we use water also to hydrate our food.
02:29So without water, we cannot sustain life on board the station.
02:32So every drop on board the International Space Station is accounted for.
02:36They say coffee of today, coffee of tomorrow.
02:39We recycle about 95% of our water.
02:42We do all of that through multiple filterations,
02:44and we make sure that it's drinkable and it's as drinking from a bottle here on Earth.
02:51Lessons from orbit applied on Earth.
02:53Recover, reuse and waste nothing.
02:56It's a challenge facing every country.
02:58And few have felt it more sharply than those in Central Asia.
03:02From the Gulf we travelled to Central Asia, where water has shaped history for thousands of years,
03:07Uzbekistan depends on two great rivers that once fed the Oral Sea.
03:11Uzbekistan is in our leading efforts to restore the region,
03:14including planting new forests on the former seabed.
03:17Our team in Tashkent reports on how the country is making every drop count.
03:25In Uzbekistan, agriculture depends heavily on irrigation.
03:29Cannals, reservoirs and pumping stations carry water across dry landscapes to farms, communities and wetlands.
03:37As demand grows, the challenge is not only how much water is available,
03:41but how much reaches its destination.
03:44Water scarcity does not only mean drought.
03:47It means land left behind, fields that cannot be farmed because the irrigation infrastructure does not reach them.
03:54World Bank Project has been rebuilding that infrastructure across the Fergana Valley since 2017.
04:01This peach orchard is one result.
04:04The Fergana Valley is one of Uzbekistan's most important agricultural regions,
04:08but in some districts, an unreliable supply at the start of the growing season
04:13can live farmland without enough water when it's needed most.
04:40In western Uzbekistan, water travels much farther.
04:45This water comes from Amu Darya River.
04:48The modernized pumping station delivers it to farmers across Navai and Bukhara regions,
04:53irrigating more than 300,000 hectares of land.
04:57Water from the Amu Darya is pumped across the desert through the Amu Bukhara machine canal,
05:01major irrigation systems serving western Uzbekistan.
05:26Once the water has been lifted and transported, the next challenge is preventing it from seeping away before it reaches
05:32farmers.
05:54Farmers downstream say the difference is already visible.
06:23But the system does more than supply agriculture.
06:26Drainage and return flows from irrigated land also feed Dengis Kul,
06:31a wetland of international importance in the Bukhara region.
06:35Recognized under the Ramsar Convention,
06:37the lake provides an important resting and wintering site for migratory birds.
06:42This area is a very high-end area.
06:55This area is a very high-end area.
06:56The water is a very high-end area.
06:57The water is developed in the area with a very high-end area.
07:06e così via.
07:13From mountain springs to desert canons and wetlands,
07:17the system connects agriculture with the wider environment.
07:21How efficiently water is moved and used will shape both farm production and natural habitats.
07:29From the Gulf to Central Asia,
07:31places facing some of the toughest water challenges are showing just what is possible.
07:36Turning seawater into drinking water.
07:38Growing more food with less.
07:40Bringing new life to land once written off.
07:43Water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of our time.
07:46But it's one we can meet.
07:48Every single one of us, every single day, has a part to play.
